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#coronageddon #SelfIsolationShenanigans Anthologies book discussions Holiday Horror Horror Short Story splatterpunk

Celebrating National Metal Day!

Heavy Metal & Horror – A Match Made For Screaming!

Celebrating National Metal Day by watching horror movies is easy. It’s FUN, but the hardest part will be deciding what movie to watch FIRST. If you’re in a state where you’re still strongly encouraged to stay self-isolated, picking up a book and getting lost in a blend of music & madness sounds much more appealing! But – what to read? Here are a few choices…


We’ll be celebrating doubly hard since The Dark Defender & I Joined Forces nine years ago today.

Joined Forces 11/11/11

If you don’t already have THE SCREAM by John Skipp & Craig Spector then this is the book you should pick up and start reading today. It’s HORROR. It’s SPLATTERPUNK. It’s ROCK AND ROLL.

Rock ‘n’ Roll. Hell. Two great tastes that taste great together. Long before Elvis gyrated on the Sullivan Show or the Beatles toiled the smoky red-light bars of Hamburg, music has been sowing the seeds of liberation. Or damnation. With each new generation the edge of rebellion pushed farther. Rhythms quickened. Volume increased. Lyrics coarsened. The rules continued to be broken, until it seemed that there were no rules at all.
And as waves of teens cranked it up and poured it on, parents built walls of accusation to explain their offspring’s seeming corruption. Sex and drugs, demon worship and violence are the effects. Music is the cause. Or so the self-styled guardians of morality would have us believe.
Meet The Scream. Just your average everyday mega-cult band. Their music is otherworldly. Their words are disturbing. Their message is unholy. Their fans are legion. And they’re not kidding. They’re killing. Themselves. Each other. Everyone. Their gospel screams from the lips of babes. Their backbeat has a body count. And their encore is just the warm-up act to madness beyond belief.
It emerged from a war-torn jungle, where insanity was just another word for survival. It arrived in America with an insatiable lust for power and the means to fulfill it. In the amplified roar of arena applause there beats the heart of absolute darkness
.


As your punk rock horror hostess in this event, I couldn’t pass up the opportunity to show you this ‘battle’ anthology!

• Thirteen Rounds. • Twenty Six Stories. • No Holds Barred.

Grab your guitars, turn the volume to eleven, and launch yourself into a world where heavy music rules over all!

Your teammates we will include 13 of these authors as you battle head to head for the Ultimate Title! David Owain Huges, Michelle Garza and Melissa Lawson – The Sisters of Slaughter, James H. Longmire, Dani Brown, Robert Holy, Andrew Freudenberg, Easel Pratt, Kitty Kane, Sebastian Crow, J.L. Lane, G.H. Finn, Jason Morton, Brian Barr, Michael Noe, Jim Richardson, Seth Moore, R.E. Lyons, Toneye Tyenot, William Bradley, John P. Collins Jr., Lucretia Stanhope, Brian Glossup, K. Trap Jones, Michael Fischer, and Jim Golforth.


I love the vibe happening right now, so the 3rd place tie between THE RITUAL by Adam Neville and SHOCK ROCK edited by Jeff Gelb has just been broken! ROCK AND ROLL IS HERE TO SLAY …

The stars of shock fiction know what metalheads & moralists, punksters & preachers have known all along. Rock and roll. With its hot licks and raw glitter, has a dark side too – where the party stops and the terror begins.

Put on your headphones. Open this electrifying book. Rock to the world of horror where martyred musical super-legends return from the dead at 120 decibels… where radio stations sponsor ghastly giveaways that no living soul could want … where other-earthly pirates bootleg not records, but human souls… where people are strange … and the devil rocks all night.

THE NEW SOUND OF HORROR comes from Stephen King, F. Paul Wilson, David J. Schow, Nancy A. Collins, Ronald Kelly, Don D’Ammassa, Graham Masterton, Paul Dale Anderson, Michael E. Garrett, Brian J. Hodge, R Patrick Gates, Rex Miller, Bill Mumy & Peter David,R Richard Christian Matheson, Michael Newton, Mark Verheiden, Ray Garton, John L. Byrne, Thomas Tessier, and John Shirley.

Categories
#coronageddon Free Horror Movies New Stuff

Want to watch a horror movie with me?

I just heard about a indie horror movie – THE ISOLATION HORRORS, on the Everything Horror podcast. Here’s the IMDb and Official Teaser Trailer –

What it’s about-

After finding a bloody face mask in the street during an epidemic outbreak, a concerned neighbour calls his home-isolating friends to check on them. Meanwhile the friends are experiencing their own horrors in their homes during lockdown.

“THE ISOLATION HORRORS” is a short film anthology intended for online release, created by London-based filmmakers during home-isolation.

The five short films are made under the rules:

  • Shoot in your place of isolation;
  • Shoot on your phone;
  • Make horror films.

The five filmmakers came up with their own concepts, goals, style and expression under these rules creating five very different horror short films, using few resources and limited technical gear available, inspired by the lockdown, and strung together by producer Nicolai Kornum.

So, like I said… want to watch a horror movie with me? Sorry we can’t NETFLIX & CHILL, but we can YOUTUBE AND BLOG! (I wish I would have set up the chat here, it would have been like the good ol’ days back at Zombie Fiend!)

I’m going to wait a little bit, then watch it here. Want to join me? It’s only about 25 minutes long, and looks pretty cool. We can text in the comments maybe? Idk how it will work out, but if you’d like to stare at a screen at the same time as me – meet me back here at say… 5:00ish (in about an hour and a half ). We might not even be able to communicate, but we’ll never know if we don’t try sometime! If I don’t see you then, then I’ll see you later. Until then, stay safe, and stay scary – not scared!

Peace, Love & Necrophilia 💋

~sg

Categories
Anthologies book discussions Book Reviews Holiday Horror Horror

Easter Eggs and Bunny Boilers: A Horror Anthology

“Follow only if you be men of valor, for the entrance to this cave is guarded by a creature so foul, so cruel that no man yet has fought with it and lived! 
Bones of full fifty men lie strewn about its lair, so brave knights, if you do doubt your courage or your strength, come no further!”
“For death awaits you all with nasty big pointy teeth.”

EE&BB.Cover

‘Experience demented rabbits, chocolate obsessed children drowning in their own greed, serial killers, resurrection and more in this collection guaranteed to kill the cravings of your sweet tooth.’

 


bunny shadowDesert
by Matt Shaw
“If you’re good – you get chocolate! If you’re bad… He hops right on by…”
Matt Shaw kicks off this collection with a dark tale about a boy who is on Easter break from school, but wishing he was anywhere but home at the moment.

There is a strange noise coming from the hallway –  had someone broken in to abduct him, or to hurt his family? Terrified, he grabs a cricket bat and ventures out to see what is lurking in the shadows…

 

On a more personal note…
DESERT is a heartbreaking short story – ‘Justin’ is such a brave, wise, and generous little boy who is continuously hurt by the man who is supposed to love him unconditionally. Reading this (and please forgive me for saying this…), makes me want to hunt down the “Senior Sperm Donor” and punch him in the face.    So… Happy Fucking Easter – let’s move on.

 

BastardBunnyBastard Bunny by David Owain Hughes  Don’t make fun of the guy in the bunny suit – you never know when he could just SNAP and lose his shit! Take a lesson from the people who survive office massacres – throw the weirdos a Snickers every once in a while, and keep your comments to yourself.

 

rabbit priestDuncan Ralston provides us with an entirely different definition of ‘resurrection’ in His Is Risen!

Want to know more about this SS? There is only one way to find out what is behind the door…

*Bonus points for teaching me ‘DRWS MARWOLAETH’.

 

EEBB Chickens Poultry UprisingThe Chickens and the 3 Gods by Kit Power
The chickens loved C’ra and R’ak. They tried their best to please, and defer to their Hen & Cock Humans – until the day they brought the mini-human, B’rok to the garden. B’rok brought terror and destruction, yet C’ra and R’ak did nothing to save them. The chickens had been forsaken by their Gods, and now a change in power is in order.    

 

Wicker BasketsWicker Baskets by Kindra Sowder

Little Jesse loves any holiday that brings with it the promise of candy. He goes to bed excited to find out what the Easter Bunny will bring him in the morning. What he finds when he wakes up will make this an Easter that he will never forget.

 

 

LastEasterEggMy Last Easter by Jack Rollins  First off, kudos to the author for the name of his main character! Way to show some love, Jack!  Second – the little sister, Charlotte, grated my nerves… what a whine-y, tattle tale little bitch! I’d look forward to my last Easter if I had to be around that every day.

 

LepusLepus by Stuart Keane
SK puts a modern horror spin onto the mythology, astrology, and lexology of Lepus – and it’s genius.

  • FunFact: I made a Kindle Note @ Location 1358 that reads: “Cue background music HERE” (I always have background music. The CD will be available for purchase at my funeral).

 

follow me down the rabbit holeLittle Bunny by Glenn Rolfe
The fluffy brown bunny draws Marlow Shuman deep into Brenner’s Woods where the line between her nightmares and reality is blurred.  She comes face to face with the past, and things aren’t what they seemed – but which version of “the truth” is correct, and who can be trusted?

 

EEBB RunRabbitRun Rabbit Run by Michael Bray
Gerald Rose is going to make a statement this year and show people the error of their ways. Easter isn’t about gorging Cadburry eggs & marshmallow Peeps – no sir.  Reverend Rose is going to show people the true meaning of Easter.

 

BunnySnapsWhen A Bunny Snaps by Jim Goforth
Josiah is celebrating Easter at one of his favorite bars – Fantasy Dress. He’s on the wrong side of sober when he sees Bunny sneak out for a smoke break, and he decides to follow her to have a little ‘chat’.  Beaten, bloody, and bruised in the alley behind the bar – she can take no more. Something in her snaps, and nothing is going to stop her from getting the payback that she deserves.

 

IshtarRebornHelp Me by Neil Buchanan
Jo wakes up from a wicked bender with very hazy snapshots of the night before starting to come into focus.  There’s also a little voice calling out for help inside his head –  which he is not in the mood for right now.
However, Ishtar is in no mood to be ignored.

 

EEBB Horace BWEducating Horace by Matt Hickman
Being 14 isn’t a picnic for any kid, but for Horace Davidson it is a nightmare. He has been coddled by his mother his entire life, becoming an overweight, under-educated misfit bullied relentlessly by his peers.  He escapes the torment by losing himself in daydreams & fantasies, but not today.  Today is Easter, and his mom has more than chocolate to put in his wicker basket this year.

 

cadbury-screme-egg

Deb Loves Robbie by Mark West

This short made me feel like I was riding through a Romeo and Juliet themed Tunnel of Love, if it were created by David Lynch, and George Romero!

♥ ‘Robbie & Deb ~ Nor Death Do Us Part’ ♥

 

Tradition.Kyle M. ScottThe Tradition is explained to us by Kyle M. Scott. Local legend says that the true spirit of Easter, embodied by a creature that predates Christianity, demands sacrifice in order to keep the children of Abbington Wood safe year after year.
The first born child of any household, under the age of 18, has to paint themselves onto an egg and offer it up to the creature. If the representation of the soul isn’t offered up willingly, the creature will come to collect the real thing. You don’t want to do things the hard way.

* recently released as book four of the Razorblade Candies series.

 

EEBB HeyZHey-Zeus by Duncan P. Bradshaw
Easter Eve is one of the biggest bar nights of the year, I’ve missed more than one Easter Sunday breakfast with the fam because I was too hungover to even think about smelling ham & deviled eggs  😡
Ed, Guy, and Harry party like goddamn rock stars on Maundy Thursday. I thought I’ve partied, but I’ve NEVER reenacted The Easter Story with my friends! 3:)

 

Feldman's RabbitFeldman’s Rabbit by Rich Hawkins
The man that entered the old house was shivering, starving, and half-frozen, but determined to survive. He can sustain with the Easter basket he found – “Feldman’s going to be just fine.”  But, is he?  Is the house driving him mad, the chocolate Easter eggs he consumed,  or was he half-mad to begin with?  It doesn’t matter, because Feldman is happier than he could ever remember being.
 
 
EEBB ZJ

On The Third Day by Graeme Reynolds

What have I been telling you all these years?

“If it shambles like a zombie, and groans like a zombie…”

…you know how to finish that sentence.

 

ostaraEaster Eggs by Chantal Noordeloos
If a newly pregnant Rosemary Woodhouse traveled to Summerisle with her husband for a pagan holiday ritual with the fam – it might turn out something like EASTER EGGS.  Chantal has captured elements of two iconic horror films and weaved them into a darkly original story that will stay with you long after you’ve finished.

 

EasterHunt.JRParkEaster Hunt by author JR Park
Old Pat was hiding this year’s batch of chocolate eggs for the Church’s annual Easter Egg Hunt when he disappeared into the odd, cream colored mist.  Once Sunday services were over, and the strange mist dissipated,  the town’s children run towards the field to begin their search.  They find a lot more than eggs to put in their baskets this year!

 

buddychristThe Jesus Loophole by Luke Smitherd

Forget about bunnies & eggs; Easter is about Christ’s torture porn style death as atonement for all the sins of man, allowing us to ask for – and receive – forgiveness. But… what if you feel no remorse for you sins?  Is it possible to “cheat the system”? If you want to find a loophole in God’s law there are two men you can ask… Kevin Smith, and Luke Smitherd.

 

 

CONNECT WITH THE AUTHORS

Matt Shaw Facebook @The_Matt_Shaw
Graeme Reynolds Facebook @graemereynolds
Luke Smitherd Facebook @LukeSmitherd
Jim Goforth Facebook @jim_goforth
Stuart Keane  Facebook @SKeane_Author
Kit Power Facebook @KitGonzo
Jack Rollins Facebook @JackRollins9280
David Owain Hughes Facebook @DOHUGHES32
Rich Hawkins Facebook @RichHawkins4
Duncan Ralston Facebook @userbits
Kyle M. Scott Facebook @drphibes333
Duncan P. Bradshaw Facebook
J R Park Facebook @SinisterHC
Glenn Rolfe Facebook @GRolfeHorror
Chantal Noordeloos Facebook @C_Noordeloos
Kindra Sowder Facebook @KindraKinnaman
Matt Hickman Facebook @Matthewhickma13
Neil Buchanan Facebook @Stormbladepro
Mark West Facebook @MarkEWest
Michael Bray Facebook @Michaelbrayauth

Shadow Girl on Social Media

 

 

 

 

Categories
Anthologies book discussions Book Reviews Horror

BITE SIZE by Matt Shaw

If you can’t handle a full serving of the extreme horror dished out by Matt Shaw, he’s prepared an appetizer just for you. Seven BITE SIZE stories are included in this collection from horror’s darkest imagination.

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“They say [money] can’t buy you happiness but I disagree. I mean it doesn’t buy happiness directly off the shelf but it buys things that bring happiness. Like whores. And drugs.” ~ The Guy‘FUN AND GAMES’

LET GO:
I’m sure it’s disorienting – the lack of all the usual bodily functions, and that light pulling… trying to draw you in like a moth. But, chances are good that the light is pulling for a reason. Sticking around might be more painful than what got you here.

REMINISCING:
Valerie sits and thinks about her life. Even the little things seem important now, everything matters. Let this SS serve as a reminder – appreciate it all while you can.

NEXT-GEN:
I think I can pinpoint exactly when this SS was written 🙂
Matt gets really excited when he’s waiting for the new game systems to come out.

LAUGHTER IN THE NIGHT:
Beth had a long day at work. A cat had to be put down after an accident, and it’s owner did not appreciate the work done to try to save it before the inevitable happened. Beth took the brunt of his anger, and can’t get his words out of her mind.

SLITHER:
It’s scary when your pets get loose, and you’re not sure if you’ll get them back. It can be scarier if your neighbor’s pets get loose – if your neighbor keeps creepy pets that haunt your nightmares.

FUN AND GAMES:
Chris has been taken hostage. The madman says he just wants to play a game, and if Chris wins – he can go free.
Sounds simple enough, right?

DATE NIGHT (screenplay):
I can’t wait to see this one acted out!
An awkward first date takes place over a nice dinner, and it tugs on the heartstrings a bit.

BITE SIZE on Amazon / Goodreads

Categories
Book Trailer Free Horror

Last Day for a Free Matt Drabble Download

AFTER DARKNESS FALLS – Volume Two

From the author of “Asylum – 13 Tales of Terror” an Amazon Horror/Anthology Chart #1, “Gated” & “Abra-Cadaver” comes volume two of a new horror anthology, 10 full length short stories of horror, murder, mystery and the macabre.

“More proof that Matt is a master of the short horror story. Matt Drabble is a name that will one day be as widely recognized as Stephen King, Dean Koontz, and others who have claimed their niche in horror history.” – READERS’ FAVORITE

Here are 10 new tales to read with the light on.
TALE #1 – “Safe House”
TALE #2 – “Love Bites”
TALE #3 – “Commission”
TALE #4 – “Petard Hoisting”
TALE #5 – “Airwaves”
TALE #6 – “Different shit same day”
TALE #7 – “Last Stand”
TALE #8 – “The Agency”
TALE #9 – “Overdue”
TALE #10 – “Three’s a crowd”

You might also like to check out other works of mine including a sequel to “Gated” out now “Gated II: Ravenhill Academy”

“Abra-Cadaver” 24 years ago they locked him away. Now something’s heading home with a whole new bag of tricks” a winner of a prestigious Indie Book of the Day award.

“After Darkness Falls – Volumes 1 & 2”- a new horror anthology collection

you can find more information:
Website: mattdrabble.com
Twitter: MattDrabble01
Facebook: matt.drabble.3